Post-COVID-19: 3 Suggestions for Business Leaders from Human Resource Specialist

*In your opinion , what challenges  leaders face in workforce management in post-COVID-19?

Post-COVID-19 is the ”population” boom of Gen Z in terms of the labor market, where generation X and Y coexist. The situation of Human Resources has also taken a crucial “push” by the growth of remote working and the application of technology in work communication & management.. These two changes can bring certain benefits to business. For example, remote working can help optimize office costs and increase the opportunity of recruiting talents worldwide. A multigenerational work environment could as well enhance creativity and strength of allthree generations X, Y, and Z. On the contrary,there is also a tough quest for managers who need to cope with the digital transformation and find a suitable method to manage  diverse employees’ demographic.

Especially, employees’ expectation of the post-COVID-19 workplace has shifted to putting more foucs and demand on mental health and state of themselves. Therefore, leaders need to find a suitable solution to create a well-being working environment at this stage.

*To sum up, there are three problems that leaders need to address, which are multigenerational workforce management, coping with the digital transformation trend, and creating a well-being work environment for their employees. Let’s talk about multigenerational workforce management first. What should businesses do, in post-COVID-19?

To tackle this matter, the Executive Board and I have several bonding activities for the three generations, such as organizing online meetings, building a shared value system to unify each generational “language.” In addition to applying technological tools in the workflow and interacting with employees, businesses need to promote engagement activities, cross-department-and-level learning  opportunities to “make way for” the collective understanding.

An example at Talentnet is our online cultural activity series called “Culture Day Online”. Originally, the program will be held offline in Ho Chi Minh City. Due to COVID-19, we have proactively redesigned the event on an online platform with many “digitized” activities such as Tiktok challenges, Shark Tank presentations, and so on. Each team has members from various departments with diverse ages and positions. In particular, young people are empowered to lead and connect the team to stimulate leadership in young generation.

* But how to apply the technology approach in management without losing the “human” cohesion factor?

In my opinion, the essential point is nurturing the interaction within employees. Technology is just a tool to boost those interactions and take records more regularly. Those half-year or annual feedback, evaluations, and rewards can now be processed immediately thanks to technology applications. In fact, Talentnet and many enterprises have also integrated employee recognition apps on mobile platforms to record their employees’ activities and positive work results. This helps to appreciate and motivate employees ,at proper times instead of waiting until the mid-year or annual review.

Besides, with the rise of online working, enterprises can use software like Trello or Slack to manage the quantity and progress of their employees’ work from afar. Similar to Sales teams, Marketing teams and Accounting teams, and so on, using CRM apps to manage customer relationships can help departments cooperate consistently and smoothly despite the distance.

*You mentioned a well-being work environment. This term doesn’t seem to be new, yet why is it the key factor in the post-COVID-19 context?

There have been many terms to describe the phenomenon of office workers before, such as “Presenteeism” (working while sick) or “leaveism” (using time off to handle work or catch up), or “blue Monday” (tiredness after weekends.) Although the HR department usually holds de-stress activities for employees, stress factors in work are still presence. 

In recent years, Talentnet – Mercer Salary Survey Report has noted the emmerging of well-being managing trends in large companies. Some companies even permit their employees to take a day off when having an unstable mentality due to… breaking up or losing a pet. After COVID-19, the news about the pandemic and economic depression can make employees feel anxious. Thus, more and more companies are valuing the term workplace well-being.
For Talentnet, after the first COVID-19 pandemic peak in April 2020, one of the policies we applied to improve our employees’ well-being was changed“sick leave” to “personal leave.” With this move, our associates don’t have to get a doctor’s note, but they can still take a day off when feeling unwell physically or mentally, or they need an emergency day off to support and take care of their family members. Instead of putting their issues aside, we are happy to let our employees take their time off when distracted. 

*Thank you very much for sharing!

Source: VNExpress